Mordor
Mordor is the home kingdom of the Uruk-hai, in the southeast of Middle-earth to the East of Gondor, Ithilien and the great river. Mordor was chosen to be Sauron's fortress because of the mountain ranges surrounding it on three sides, creating a natural fortress against his enemies. Much of the land was a volcanic waste due to the activity of Mount Doom, but some could be cultivated and the Dark Lord's slaves raised food for his armies here as well. __TOC__ Geography Mordor was protected from three sides by mountain ranges, arranged roughly in a rectangular manner: Ash Mountains (Ered Lithui) in the north, Ephel Dúath (Mountains of Shadow) in the west and south. In the northwest corner of Mordor the deep valley of Udûn was the only entrance for large armies, and that is where Sauron built the Morännon, the Black Gate of Mordor. In front of the Black Gate lay the Dagorlad or the Battle Plain. Sauron's main fortress of Barad-dûr was at the of Ered Lithui. To the southwest of Barad-dûr lay the arid plateau of Gorgoroth and Mount Doom (called Orodruin in Sindarin); to the east lay the plain of Lithlad. Mordor's geography was excellent for defense against enemies attacking on all fronts, for nearly unscalable mountains defended Mordor on three sides, while the broken, jagged land of Gorgoroth and Nurn would greatly impede any army that managed to break through. Mordor's dry and blasted geography would also be extremely unfriendly to any army bivouacked on the plains, forcing a withdrawal within days (unless they have stores sufficient for months). The southern part of Mordor, called Núrn, was slightly more fertile, and moist enough to carry the inland sea of Núrnen. Nurn was made somewhat fertile because the ash blown from Mount Doom left its soil nutrient rich, thus allowing dry-land farming. To the west of Mordor was the narrow land of Ithilien with the city of Osgiliath and the great river Anduin while directly East of it was Rhûn, and to the southeast, Khand. The east of Mordor is by far the least mentioned of any of Mordor's geographic notes and descriptions. One might assume that the easiest route to Mount Doom would be for the Fellowship to journey through the 'unguarded' section of the east, where no mountains guard; however, we are told in the Fellowship of the Ring ''that the area was heavily defended by a line of border forts facing Sauron's allies in Rhun. In theory, these forts have no use, because to get there they would have to pass along the western edge of Rhun, and Sauron's strongest allies, the Easterlings, abode there. Also it would have been difficult to pass unnoticed because of the many roads running from Mordor into Rhun were always being marched along by Easterlings entering Mordor or patrolling the roads and borders. History First & Second Age Sauron settled in '''Mordor' 1,000 years after the end of the First Age, and it remained the pivot of his evil contemplations for the whole of the Second Age and Third Ages of Middle-earth. In the north-western corner of this land stood Mount Doom or Orodruin, where Sauron had forged the One Ring. Near Orodruin stood Sauron's stronghold Barad-dûr. After this time, Sauron was known as the Dark Lord. For two and a half thousand years, Sauron ruled Mordor uninterruptedly. Having wrought the Ring, it was from there that he launched the attack upon the elves of Eregion. He was repelled by the Númenóreans. He fought against the men again, almost a thousand years later; that time, he was captured by the Númenóreans and brought to their island kingdom, eventually causing its destruction (see Akallabêth). Immediately after Númenor's destruction, Sauron returned to Mordor as a spirit and resumed his rule. Third Age Sauron's rule was interrupted yet again when his efforts to overthrow the surviving Men and Elves failed, and they fought their way back to their foe's domain. After several years of siege, forces of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men came into Mordor. Sauron was defeated in a final battle on the slopes of Orodruin. For about a thousand years, Mordor was guarded by Gondor in order to prevent any evil forces from breaking out. Minas Ithil , The Towers of the Teeth and the Tower of Cirith Ungol were built by Gondor to watch two of the major entry points to the dark land. However, Sauron eventually used the Wainriders to distract and weaken Gondor, and the Nazgul, after having destroyed Arnor reclaimed it and started to rebuild it`s might. Minas Ithil was conquered by the Nine Ringwraiths and the Gondor fortresses occupied by evil creatures. By the time Sauron returned into Mordor after his false defeat in Dol Guldur (in the events that took place at the time of Bilbo Baggins's The Hobbi, Mordor was too strong to be captured by any military might that was available in Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age. In the north of Mordor during the War of the Ring were the great garrisons and forges of war, while surrounding the bitter inland Sea of Núrnen to the south lay the vast fields tended for the provision of the armies by hordes of slaves brought in from lands to the east and south. The Last Alliance During the War of the Ring, Sauron gathered all his forces to Mordor. After the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, a Host of the West went to the Marrannon or the Black Gate. Sauron sent his army to destroy the Men of Gondor and Rohan, but then Frodo Baggins destroyed the One Ring and Mordor fell. The Dark Tower or Barad-dûr, the Black Gate and the Towers of Teeth collapsed to ruin. Mount Doom exploded. Both Sauron and his Ringwraiths were apparently destroyed. After the ultimate defeat of Sauron, Mordor became mostly empty again as the Orcs inside it fled or were killed. Crippled by thousands of years of abuse and neglect, but capable of sustaining life, the land of Mordor was given to the defeated foes of Gondor as a consolation, as well as to the freed slaves of Nurn who were formerly forced to farm there to feed the armies of Mordor. Tips * Trivia *Mordor actually has two meanings: The Black Land or The Dark Land in Tolkien's contrived language Sindarin, and The Land of Shadow in Quenya. *A proposed etymology out of the context of Middle-earth is Old English morthor, which means "mortal sin" or "murder." *Mordor is also a name cited in some Nordic mythologies referring to a land where its citizens practice evil without knowing it, imposed on themselves by the society long created for that purpose. *The Fellowship of the Ring was tasked to take the One Ring to Mordor (specifically Mount Doom) to be destroyed. Category:Mordor Category:Locations